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People play in the San Gabriel River along the East Fork in the Angeles National Forest Saturday, July 20, 2013. The Urban Conservation Corps educates people visiting the East Fork of the San Gabriel River in the Angeles National Forest. Although the Urban Conservation Corps says their river trash count studies show less trash the area is still littered with garbage. (SGVN/Staff Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz)

A long-awaited management plan for the San Gabriel Mountains National Monument bans oil and gas drilling, all forms of mining and expands protection of endangered species living along three branches of the San Gabriel River.

New zones will protect the Santa Ana sucker fish that spawn in the river’s east, west and north forks located about 12-15 miles north of Azusa off Highway 39. The forks also happen to be popular weekend spots for thousands of city dwellers who flock there to swim, picnic or just cool off.

A man walks along the San Gabriel River as government officials, NGOs and volunteers gathered for a one-year anniversary celebration of the San Gabriel Mountains National Monument dedication along the East Fork of the river on Friday, October 16, 2015. (Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz/Pasadena Star-News)

In Aliso Canyon Creek near Acton on the western edge of the monument, new protections would limit roads near Southern California Edison power lines in an effort to further protect the federally listed California red-legged frog, a threatened species.

In these four places, camping would no longer be allowed. All-day-use activities would remain permitted, according to the plan.

While new protections along the rivers and creeks are significant, the most controversial change may stem from a ban on so-called recreational mining involving prospectors who use equipment to dredge the river and “pan for gold.”

Many protested the designation some four years ago.

“Panning for gold, what’s called non-commercial mining, all that is prohibited because that is a form of mining,” said Jeff Vail, Angeles National Forest and SGMNM supervisor during an interview Tuesday.

“Under the plan, that activity would constitute damage to natural resources and individuals who engage in that activity can be cited under existing regulations.”

Technically, a 1928 law prevented prospecting in the river but had no enforcement provision. Vail stressed that mining claims filed before the designation on Oct. 10, 2014 are valid.

In fact, two mines still operate in the monument, a clay mine and a tungsten mine.

“That (river prospecting) can be harmful to species in the river because it pulls up dirt and soil and it dirties the water and changes the structure of the river flow. And that can damage aquatic life,” said Daniel Rossman, California deputy director of The Wilderness Society, a member of Nature For All, which led an effort for monument status.

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An environmental assessment found 565 cultural resources. The plan suggested evaluating the following for eligibility under the National Register of Historic Places:

• Mt. Wilson Observatory, where astronomers first discovered the universe was expanding. Albert Einstein did research at the Observatory in the 1930s. The site also demonstrates women’s roles as “human computers” similar to those depicted in the 2017 Hollywood movie “Hidden Figures.”

• The defunct town of Eldoradoville, a mining enclave on the East Fork established in 1859, where only concrete pads and a rockwork flagpole base remain. After a flood it was rebuilt in 1860 and miners returned to a town that at its zenith produced $15,000 per month in gold shipments. The plan described it as “a lawless Wild West settlement, governed by the knife and gun.” During the presidential election of 1960, voters favored Stephen Douglas over John Breckenridge and Abraham Lincoln.

• Aliso-Arrastre Area, 7,580 acres in Acton containing numerous Native American sites such as a stone circle, house rings, glass trade beads, pottery and religious sites from the historic period to the Late and Middle Prehistoric Periods.

Rare, threatened or endangered animals found in the monument include the least Bell’s vireo, California condor, American peregrine falcon, a nesting pair of bald eagles near San Gabriel Dam and Townsend’s big-eared bat found in abandoned mines.

The plan also calls for enhanced environmental educational programs and improved visitor centers to better inform the 15 million Southern Californians who live within 90 minutes of the monument with 243 miles of trails for hiking, hunting, horseback riding and mountain biking from Santa Clarita to Mt. Baldy.

Vail hopes to hook in corporate sponsors for such expensive improvements, part of the partnership concept stressed in the plan. Since the dedication, corporate and nonprofit donations totaled $6.5 million, money used to restore habitat, add new signs and begin improvements to the Cattle Canyon picnic area, he said.

“I’m pretty confident we will build upon success upon success and create a better visitor experience,” Vail said. “We are moving the needle and leveraging some things that we were able to accomplish but we still have a long way to go.”

“I would expect a final plan to be signed and in place by this summer.”

Those who commented on the 2016 draft of the plan can submit comments through early June to: objections-pacificsouthwest-regional-office@fs.fed.us with the subject “San Gabriel Mountains National Monument Objection,” or they can be mailed to: Barnie Gyant, 1323 Club Drive, Vallejo, CA 94592.

For more information, contact Jamie Uyehara at 626-574-5256 or via email at juyehara@fs.fed.us.

Steve Scauzillo covers environment and transportation for the Southern California News Group. He has won two journalist of the year awards from the Angeles Chapter of the Sierra Club and is a recipient of the Aldo Leopold Award for Distinguished Editorial Writing on environmental issues. Steve studied biology/chemistry when attending East Meadow High School and Nassau College in New York (he actually loved botany!) and then majored in social ecology at UCI until switching to journalism. He also earned a master's degree in media from Cal State Fullerton. He has been an adjunct professor since 2005. Steve likes to take the train, subway and bicycle – sometimes all three – to assignments and the newsroom. He is married to Karen E. Klein, a former journalist with Los Angeles Daily News, L.A. Times, Bloomberg and the San Fernando Valley Business Journal and now vice president of content management for a bank. They have two grown sons, Andy and Matthew. They live in Pasadena. Steve recently watched all of “Star Trek” the remastered original season one on Amazon, so he has an inner nerd.